YOUTH HAS POWER TODAY

A group of youngsters, mostly boys aged around 20, the other day were arguing about the sad state of affair. The talk centered around how useless the system is and how the UPA-II Government is being run by the Congress High Command. It was a shock to hear what these young guns, who are the votebank of the future, had to say about the Prime Minister. These boys who were from different colleges and studying in different cities with diverse backgrounds whose parents had no political connection. In fact, the parents didn't even side with particular party.

When I asked them who they will they want as the next Prime Minister, the majority sided with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a couple sided with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the other two were undecided between Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The fact that Modi's name had maximum takers is no surprise. This is because the youth feels he can deliver what he says, he is a semi-dictator, though it is not fair to call him that. But he is the answer to what we need today. The youth today is impatient and angry with the present-day politicians who are arrogant.

With the kind of exposure the GenX has today, people of my generation had none of it. We worked hard to make ends meet and tried to give our children the best comfort in life. Some of us got the opportunity to work abroad. But life was not easy there as well. One had to work hard to make way to the top. But we never gave up. We provided for our children and it was not just giving them comfort, we gave them all the luxuries. When we look back at our life, I can't remember the time when we could afford what children have today. The kind of lifestyle children have today, could not have been even imagined by my generation.

I tried to explain to these boys about the kind of life that my parents had. The country had just got Independence and the people were busy trying to survive the aftermath of the partition. These people had lost everything - family, friends, money and property. They were homeless and penniless. But there is hope for our country. With the exposure and confidence that the youth has today, one hopes that they will cast their vote properly and choose leaders who will deliver on every count - good governance and take the nation to great heights.

The young leaders today may mean well but they have been brought up in the lap of luxury. They have come into politics because they father was a politician. There are enough Nitish Kumars and Shivraj Singh Chouhans who have made a place for themselves and won the public's confidence due to their hard work. The fact that they are honest and work for the development in their State is an added advantage for them.The good part is that there are many more such leaders. They may not be as privileged as our baba log as they don't have easy access to the leaders at the top, it doesn't take away the fact that they have nation's interest at heart. People like Modi, Arun Jaitley, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have risen to the top because they are intelligent and determined.

One just wishes that the youth today has the choice to choose the leader and not get trampled because a few leaders feel insecure.